Magazine for firearms



p 10, 1946- J. VESELY -2,407,461

MAGAZINE FOR FIREARMS Filed July 28, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 1' FIG. I.

/N VENTOR JOSEF vasELY' ersz/ mi' Sept. 10, 1946. J. VESELY 2,407,461

MAGAZINE FOR FIREARMS Filed July- 28, 1942 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORJ'OSEF vase LY i M Hi8 AGENTS Sept. 10, 1946. J VESELY 2,407,461

MAGAZINE FOR FIREARMS Filed July 28, 1942 3 SheetS-Sheet s FIQB. FIG. 9.

//v vz/v TOR. JOSEF VESELY ms ss/yrs Patented Sept. 10, 1946 UNED STATESPATENT OFFECE Application July 28, 1942, Serial No. 452,585

In Great Britain July 26, 1941 7 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in magazines for firearmsand in particular to drum magazines for automatic or semi-automaticfirearms of the kind which are fed with cartridges from one or more drummagazines, arranged either above, below or at the sid of the breechmechanism.

It is an object of this invention to produce a magazine of largecapacity suitable for use with guns having a high rate of fire, andconsequently to produce a magazine in which the moving mass at anymoment during the feeding of cartridges to the gun is at a very lowvalue equal to only a fraction of the total mass of th magazine.Moreover it is a further object of the invention to utilize thecartridges themselves for the purpose of reducing the resistance offeredby friction to the feeding of the cartridges. Thus the invention aims atavoiding those disadvantage of certain known forms of magazine which arenot Well adapted for use with guns requiring a high rate of cartridgfeed owing to the fact that the great mass of the entire cartridgecontent of the magazine as well as its mechanism has to be brought intorotation by the magazine spring when a cartridge is to be fed into thegun, and wherein, owing to the great inertia of this total mass, themagazine feed spring needs to be very strong for otherwise the requiredvelocity of feed cannot be achieved. In this form of magazine thegreater its capacity the greater becomes the inertia or resistance tomovement and the less suitable the magazine is for use with high speedguns and it is, of course, just this kind of gun for which magazines ofa large capacity are particularly necessary. Moreover, the stronger thesprings used in feeding the cartridges the more are the dilficultieslikely to be encountered since with the increasing of the strength ofthe springs frictional resistance is rapidly increased and theadditional pressure on the cartridges is transmitted as a braking actionto the breech lock wtih obvious detrimental results.

Whilst the magazine according to the invention is primarily intended foruse with guns in which a high rate of cartridge feed is desired, themagazine also offers advantages when used with drum fed automatic gunsintended to operate at the normal or lower rates of fire.

A further object is to provide an arrangement by which proper chargingand discharging of the magazine in a simple manner is ensured.

The improved magazine is simple in design and easy to manufacture, andits capacity can be 2 increased as desired by the simple addition ofduplicated parts.

According to the invention there is provided a drum magazine forautomatic firearms comprising a plurality of substantially similarcompartments or frames each adapted to carry cartridges, suchcompartments or frames being of flat annular or disc-like form, arrangedcoa'xially in a pile within a drum, and adapted to successiveindependent rotation about the axis of said pile for the purposes offilling and emptying the magazine by way of the discharge mouth of thesaid drum, and means in the magazine for rotating the said compartmentsor frames individually in the cartridge discharging direction. Thus thedrum magazine may comprise two or more cartridge-carrying compartmentsor frames movable independently of each other, one compartment or frameonly being in action during firing, the other or others remaining atrest; means are provided whereby after the cartridges in one compartmentor frame are exhausted during the discharge of cartridges or completelyfilled during the cartridge filling operation the next compartment orframe is brought into action, whilst the previously emptied or filledcompartment or frame or compartments or frames remains or remain at restrelatively to the gun.

The expression flat annular or disc-like form is used herein inreferring to the cartridge-carrying compartments or frames todistinguish these .from the cartridge-carrying members. of a certinpreviously proposed magazine wherein. the cartridges (which were to actas friction reducing-members) were to be arranged in a plurality ofconical rings adapted for successive discharge, these rings ofcartridges being disposed concentrically one within the other with thecartridges on end as distinct from the present case where the cartridgesare arranged in superposed more or less flat layers; it will, however,be seen from the following description that the compartments or framesof the magazine according to this invention are neither strictly fiatnor strictly disclike but nevertheless approximate to these forms.

In the magazine according to this invention the cartridges themselvesmay be arranged so as to serve, when in the magazine, to reducefrictional resistance between the moving parts of the magazine. Thuswith the improved magazine the resistance to movement of the operativeand movable parts of the magazine is reduced to a very low level due,inter alia, to the relatively mall mass being moved at any particulartime and to the fact that the cartridges act somewhat in the manner ofroller bearings. Hence the use of relatively weak feeding springs ispossible with consequent reduction of the undesirable pressure of thecartridges against the breech mechanism, this latter being a mostimportant matter in high speed machine guns.

The individual compartments or frames may be of skeleton annular or ringformation so as to be of relatively light weight, two or more of thecompartments or frames being disposed one above the other or side byside in a pile in axial alignment and arranged for rotationindependently of one another around the common axis.

Suitable recesses or like positioning means may be provided in eachcompartment or frame for separate accommodation of the cartridges.

Each compartment or frame is provided with its own feed spring orsprings for rotating the compartment or frame in the direction to feedthe cartridges therein towards the mouthpiece of the magazine by whichthe cartridges are led to the gun and which mouthpiece may be used insecuring the magazine to the drum.

Discharge orifices are provided for the passage of cartridges from allcompartments or frames to the magazine mouthpiece, these apertures beingarranged to be brought into register with one another as successivecompartments or frames are exhausted (or filled) to form in effectcontinuations of the passage through the mouthpiece, and suitableguiding means for the cartridges are provided adjacent said orifices.

These guiding means serve, preferably in conjunction with furthernormally fixed inclined guides mounted within the magazine to guide thecartridges from the various compartments or frames, as they becomesuccessively exhausted, to the mouthpiece leading to the gun, or toguide the cartridges to the various compartments or frames as they aresuccessively filled during recharging. The guide means also serve tomaintain certain of the compartments or frames at rest whilst anothercompartment or frame is rotating, as will be more fully explainedherein-' after.

Other parts of the invention reside in the several new or improvedfeatures, combinations or which will be described by way of example withreference to the accompanying drawings in order to make the nature ofthe invention clearer and to show how it may be performed. The aspectsof the invention for which a monopoly is desired are set out in theclaims.

Referring now to the accompanyingdrawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a gun fitted with a magazine accordingto the invention.

Figure 2 is a part sectional view of the magazine and of the relevantparts of the gun.

Figure 3 is a section on line III, Figure 4, and shows the magazineitself, this magazine comprising a body having three superposed.compartments or frames which are all shown in a fully loaded condition.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the magazine which is shown partly insection.

Figure 5 is a side view of the magazine.

Figure 6 shows, in diagrammatical sectional elevation showing themagazine in fully loaded condition, a part, of the cylindrical outerwall of the magazine body being omitted for the sake of clarity.

Figure 7 is a similar view showing the magazine after the lowestcompartment or frame thereof has been emptied and when the middlecompartment or frame is in operation.

Figure 8 is a similar view to Figure 6 but shows the lowest and themiddle compartments or frames both exhausted and-the upper compartmentin operation.

Figure 9 shows the same parts of the magazine as Figures 6 to 8inclusive, but with all the compartments or frames exhausted, thisfigure additionally showing the string of dummy cartridges which serveas the final feeding or ex pelling means for the last few cartridges inthe magazine.

Figure 10 is a plan view of a part of the magazine and shows inparticular feeding means for the cartridges.

Figure 11 is a detail sectional view on line ll-li of Figure 10, and

Figure 12 shows an embodiment of the invention wherein a modified formof cartridge expelling mean is used.

Figures 2 to 12 are all drawn on a larger scale than Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, in particular to Figures 1 and 2, it will beseen that the reference numeral l represents the magazine as a whole.This magazine is adapted to be mounted in any suitable manner on anautomatic gun 2 which may be of any design which is adapted to besupplied by cartridges from a magazine of the kind with which thisinvention is concerned.

The magazine 1 shown in the drawings has three compartments or frames(hereinafter more fully described), but it should be understood that theinvention is not limited to this number of compartments and any desirednumber of compartments greater than one may be used.

The magazine consists of a body or casing which is formed of an upperdisc 4, a lower disc 5 and cylindrical envelope or rim 5 spacing andconnecting the discs 4 and 5. These parts may be made either integral orbe connected together in any desired manner to form a rigid body for themechanism of the magazine.

A mouthpiece 1 (Figure 2) is arranged in the lower disc 5 and serves tosecure the magazine on to the gun 2 and also to lead cartridges 8discharged from the magazine through a radial discharge aperture in thebottom of the latter (as will be more fully described later) into thepath of the gun feeding member, e. g. the breechblock 9, which duringits forward movement pushes the lowermost cartridge 8 into the gunbarrel ID.

A sleeve H, as is very clearly seen from Figure 3, is arranged in theaxis of the magazine I. This sleeve has at its lower end a flange l2which abuts against the lower disc 5 of the body of the magazine and isprovided at its upper end with a reduced screw-threaded part forreceiving a nut I3 which, when screwed into position, abuts against theupper disc 4 of the said body so rendering the whole structure rigid andsturdy. It is, of course, obvious that any other way of mounting thesleeve ll may be used. The sleeve Hserves as the axis of rotation of therotatable parts to be subsequently described and fits upon a pin 40projecting from a bracket 4! carried by the gun as shown in Figure 2,for example.

Means, such as a strap 3 or the like, may be provided on the magazine topermit of a con- Fig. 4) may be provided on the upper disc 4 forsecuring the ends ofthe strap- 3 to the magazine body.

The magazine shown in the drawings comprises three independentlyrotatable cartridge-carrying frames or compartments I5, I6 and I1,mounted for' rotation about thesleeve II. Each compartment or frame isof annular form and the design may be'the samefor all the-compartmentsor frames. Each frame or compartment is of a skeleton nature andconsists of an outer ring I8 and inner ring I9 rigidly connectedtogether by a radial arm 20 (see Figures 4, IO and 11), and a hollowdrum I9 fixed wi-thin'theinner ring I9.

In the following description the parts l5, I5 and II-will, for'thesakeof clarity, be referred to as frames, and the parts associated with thelowermost frame will be distinguishedby a single prime thus those of themiddle compartment by'two primes thus and those of the upper compartmentby three primes thus but only when it is necessary to refer to aparticular frame or its associated parts as distinct from the frames andassociated parts in general. On other occasions the common referencecharacter without the distinguishing primes will. be used in describingthe parts.

A separate angularly adjustable collar. 21 for each of the said framesis rigidly mounted on the central- Sleeve II, one collar being disposedin each compartment'of the magazine I; Each collar has one end of aspiral feed spring '22 fastened thereto, and the other end of suchspring is secured to the inner ring I9 of. the frame corresponding tothe collar to which the spring is attached so that by rotating the framein one direction the spring becomes tensione'd and so tends to rotatethe frame, and indeed does rotate the frame, when this isreleased, inthe opposite direction. More than. one spring 22 may be used in eachcompartment if. required or desired.

The outer ring I8. and the inner ring it are each of inverted channelshape in cross-section, and the horizontal parts of the outer rings(which parts arev disposed between the inner and outer dependentperipheral flanges I8", ill of the ring I8) form a bearing surface 23:,whilst the downwardly extending inner peripheral flanges I8", I9 of the:rings I8 and. t9 respectively, are, provided with peripherally equallyspaced semi-circular' recesses [8%. I9 open. on the side. towards the.gun, such recesses. being provided for accommodating, and; positioningcartridges radially in. their frame. (see Figures 3, and ls-and Figures6 to 9) The rim of. each. cartridge in the middle and upper frames I6and H rests at its lower side against the bearing surface 23 of the ringI8 of the compartment next below the compartment carrying the cartridge,whilst the lower sides of the cartridges in the lower frame I5- bearupon the bottom 5 of the magazine body 1. Theupper side of the rim ofeach cartridge :bears against the undersurface of the bearing surface 23of its own ring I8, so thatthe cartridge, when moved by the frame inwhichit is carried, rolls between two bearing surfaces like a roller in;a roller bearing. This. arrangement. reduces to a low level frictionalresistance between the. parts. At the sides nearer the gun each of. the.said frames. is provided with an annular bullet supporting surface 24over which the bullets may roll as the cartridges rotate; duringrotation. of the frame carrying them.

Two or more inclined radially aligned guides 6 '25 (at least one for therear and oneother for the front part of the cartridges) are fixed in thebody of the magazine adjacent to the discharge opening in the bottom ofthe latter, said guides extending through all the said frames andserving to guide the. cartridges into: their particular frames uponloading the magazine, and also guiding the cartridges out of theirframes into the mouthpiece ii during the operation of the gun, as willbe described hereinafter. As will be seen, for example from Figure 6,the guiding portions of the guides 25' in the upper compartment I! areat a greater inclined angle to the vertical than are the remaining partsof: the guides. In fact these upper guiding parts are parallel to theguiding surfaces 29 of the yokes 23 subsequently described.

The rings I8 and I19- of each of the frames, except, if desired, theupper one, are each provided in the horizontally-extending annularpart-there;- of With aradial discharge aperture 26 adjacent to the 'arm2-8', the said apertures permitting the cartridges to pa-ssxf'romoneframe to the next. as the frames come into. their final positions andt e said aperture 26 of one. frame is aligned with that of the nextvframe. Although. apertures 26 are. not necessary in the upper frame: ofthe magazine they may nevertheless. be providedif it is desired tostandardize the form of the frames so that they are all alike.

The: arm 28 (see: Figures 6-11) of. each frame has. one face provided.with. an inclined gliding surface 21 and, except for the arm 2-0" of thelowermost frame IS, the. arms 28 are provided on their trailing edgeswith two or more; radially spaced yokes. 28 rigidly connected toor madeintegrally with the arm 28.. Each yoke 28 projects from: its own frameinto the next lower frame (see Figures 6-9) ,.and has an inclinedsurface 29 (see Figure 11) adapted to guide cartridge into the dischargeaperture leading, to the mouthpiece 1 or to the next frame. Each yokealso has an abuttingface 38 (Figure 11) adapted for co-operation withthe vertical trailing. surface of. the arm 280i the next lower frame.

The arm. 20 of. thebottomcompartment has a projection 32 (Figures 8, 10and 11) near itslower face, which projection is adapted for co-operationwith an abutment 3-I fixed to the partof the body of the magazine I. Thearms 20 and their yokes 2:8 serve as feeding members for transmittingmotion. to the cartridges of the particular, frames in. which the. armsare disposed as will, be described later.

To ensure proper feeding of the lastifew carbridges from the magazine,expelling means are provided and. are adapted to push these. cartridgesthrough the channel formed by the discharge apertures 26. and thevarious guide members and through the mouthpiece 1. Such expel-lingmeans comprises a string of dummy cartridges 33 linked together by linksi l, such dummy cartridges normally being disposed in the upper frame I1and fixed to the uppermost arm 20', the length of the string being suchas. to be capable of reaching, in its final position as far as thedischarge opening of the mouthpiece 1 as shown in Figure 9..

.In Figure 12 a. modified form of expelling means. has been. shown. Inthis case an expeller spring 35 is used insteadof the strin of. dummycartridges 33 for pushingv out the last cartridges from the uppermostframe II. The spring may be provided at its: end with an expeller cap 36for proper engagement with the last cartridge the capacity of themagazine, because the spring, when compressed by the incomingcartridges, oc-

cupies less space than the string of dummy cartridges previouslydescribed.

- The magazine above described and shown in .the accompanying drawingsoperates as follows:

First let it be assumed that the magazine has been.,loaded withcartridges to capacity. This condition is shown in Figure 6, wherein allthree compartments as well as themouthpiecel are filled with cartridges.

If cartridges are removed from the discharge block of the gun duringfiring operatiomthe feed spring 22". After this frame has been filledthe yokes 28 of the arm 20" (frame H) deflect the furtherincomingcartridges to the middle frame It which rotates and tensions its feedopening of the mouthpiece, e.'g. by the breech lower frame lcomprisingrings i8, i3 and arm 20 are set in motion by the spring 22 and bringsfurther cartridges into the mouthpiece l. The other frames i3 and I? donot take'part in this motion. Thecartridges leavin frame I 5 slide alongtheinclined surface 29 of the yoke 28", which acts as a guide for thecartridges.

' This discharging of cartridges from the frame continues until theframe is exhausted. In I this latter condition the position of the partsis as shown in Figure 7. The arm has reached its final position in whichits abutment 32 en gages against thestop 3| and thearm 23' and its framehave come to rest; in this position of the parts the apertures 26' inthe rings i8, I9

of the lower frame [5 occupy a position enabling cartridges from themiddle frame IE to be discharged along the inclined surface 29 of theyoke 28" and the guide into the mouthpiece? under the influence of thefeed spring 22", Until this stage is reached the middle frame is cannotro tate under the action of its spring 22" since the frame is lockedagainst rotation by the guide member 25 engaging the first cartridge inthe frame. Also the upper frame I1 is similarly prevented from rotatingby the engagement of its foremost cartridge with the guide members 25and cannot rotate to discharge cartridges until the middle compartmentis empty and the cartridges from the upper compartment can pass to themiddle one.

The discharging operation of the frame i6 is similar to that of thebottom frame 15 and once started may continue until there are no car-'tridges left in that frame, whereupon the abutting face 30 on the yoke28" rests against the corresponding wall of the arm 29' of the frame l5,as shown in Figure 8. In this way the inclined surface 2'! of the arm29" is positioned appropriately with respect to the inclined guidemember 25 and a guide channel is formed for the passage of cartridgesfrom the uppermost frame through the middle and bottom frames and alongthe inclined guide 25 into the mouthpiece 1. The last few cartridgesfrom the uppermost frame are discharged by the string of dummycartridges 33 which pass down the said guide channel as is illustratedin Figure 9. Alternatively the last few 1 cartridges are expelled by thespring 35 as illustrated in Figure 12.

The loading of the magazine is performed by a reverse sequence ofoperations to that above described. Thus, assuming the parts to be inthe condition shown in Figure 9, the first cartridges inserted into themouthpiece 1 'push back the string of dummy cartridges 33 or the spring35 and then travel along the guide 25 into the upper- -most frame I!which is thus rotated to tension its r spring 22". After the frame iBhasbeen filled its yokes 28 deflect the next cartridges into the loWer framl5 which, underthe pressure of the incoming cartridges, rotates andtensions its feed spring 22'. Thus'the magazine is charged, thefeedspringstensioned, and the whole drum is ready for use.

Embodiments of the invention have been described above in the case of agun in which the magazine is disposed horizontally (i. e. with the axisabout which the said frames rotate disposed vertically) but it should beunderstood that drum magazines constructed in accordance with thisinvention may be used withtsuccess in other po-;

sitions. I I

The mouthpiece 'lhas been shown in the drawings with a partition wall3Tso that the cartridges are fed into the gun in a single row, It

is, of jcoprse, evident that in cases in which the carrying frame isprovided in the outerperiph eral wallof its outer ring [8 With a seriesof pe-' gun is adapted to be fed by a double row of cartridges thispartition wall 31 may be omitted and the cartridges accommodated in themouthpiece ranged one above the other and one opposite each of the ringsI8 of the cartridge carrying frames, Opposite'the slots 38 eachcartridge of each cartridge so that the holes are spaced apart by aperipheral distance equal to the pitch between the centresof the outerends of the cartridges. The peripheral length of the slots 38 is rathergreater than the peripheral distance between the adjacent holes 38 It isthus possible to introduce a pointed or similar tool, or even the tip ofa bullet through a slot 38 in the magazine wall and into one of theholes 38 in the cartridge carrying frame opposite the slot, and then byexerting pressure on the tool or the inserted cartridge to rotate thecartridge carrying frame for a limited distance equal to approximatelythe distance between the outer ends of two cartridges whilst at the sametime urging a cartridge into the magazine through the mouth thereof.Thus, as the cartridge is placed into the magazine, the frame beingloaded is moved in the loading direction so that the cartridge can enterinto its proper position in the frame. It Will be appreciated that thetool is inserted successively in all the holes 33 in each frame l8, andthe cartridge carrying frame is turned through one space as eachcartridge is loaded. Thus it is possible to operate the frames from theoutside of the magazine casing during loading withoutdismantling themagazine at all.

The magazine according to the invention has a number of importantadvantages over any of the known types. It is very simple in operationand is simple to manufacture because nearly all components may be madeby pressing. The number of components is relatively small and allmovable parts are housed within the magazine body or casing and are notexposed to mechanical damage. As already pointed out, an outstandingfeature of the new magazine is that at no time is there more than onecompartment in operation so that the feed springs work against onlyslight resistance and the inertia of the moving mass is reduced to aminimum value, rendering the operation of the magazine reliable andspeedy. Resistance against movement is further reduced by the rims ofthe cartridges acting as rollers similar to the rollers of a rollerbearing. The loading of the magazine is easy and reliablebecause theindividual frames are charged and discharged in succession and theinitiation of charging or discharging of any one frame is dependent uponthe complete charging or discharging of another. All these advantagesrender the magazine according to the invention particularly suitable forguns with the highest rate of fire.

I claim:

1. A cartridge magazine comprising a receptacle, a discharge outlettherein, a plurality of substantially fiat, individually-rotatablecartridge-holding members disposed in said receptacle in superposedrelation, and each including a pair of concentric annular sectionsconnected together in spaced relation, said annular sections engagingthe opposite ends of a circular series of cartridges to retain the sameradially in each holding member, means for severally rotating saidcartridge-holding members, means for discharging cartridges therefromand for guiding the discharged cartridges to said discharge outlet,means carried by the magazine for preventing the discharge of cartridgesfrom an upper carridge-holding member until the next lowercartridge-holding member is completely discharged, and means on eachlowerly disposed cartridgeholding member arranged to engage with itsnext superposed cartridge-holding member for arresting the rotarymovement of such superposed cartridge-holding member.

2. A cartridge magazine comprising a receptacle, .a discharge outlet inthe base thereof, a plurality of flat, individually-rotatablecartridgeholding members disposed in said receptacle in superposedrelation, means for retaining a circular series of cartridges radiallyin each of said cartridge-holding members, guide means on eachcartridge-holding member registering with the guide means on the otherof said cartridge-holding members and jointly forming a delivery passagefor the cartridges, said guide means serving to arrest the rotarymovement of each cartridgeholding member, in turn, as the same becomeempty and feeding the cartridges from the loaded cartridge-holdingmembers through the empty cartridge-holding members, and means severallyactuating said cartridge-holding members to feed the cartridges fromeach loaded cartridge-holding member, in succession, to said dischargepassage and outlet.

3. A cartridge magazine comprising a receptacle having a dischargeoutlet in the base thereof, a plurality of substantially fiat,individuallyrotatable cartridge-holding members disposed in saidreceptacle in superposed, axially-aligned relation, means for retaininga circular series of cartridges radially in each of saidcartridge-holding members, guide means on an upper cartridgeholdingmember adapted to register with the guide means on the lowermost of saidcartridgeholding members to form therewith a delivery passage for thecartridges, said guide means serving to. arrest the rotary movement ofeach cartridge-holding member, in turn, as the same becomes empty and toguide the cartridges from the loaded cartridge-holding members throughthe empty cartridge-holding members, a sleeve located centrally withinthe magazine and adapted to receive a pin for supporting the magazine ona firearm, and means severally actuating said cartridge-holding membersto feed the cartridges from each loaded cartridge-holding member, insuccession, to said discharge passage and said outlet.

4. A cartridge magazine comprising a receptacle having a dischargeoutlet in the base thereof, a plurality of substantially flat,individuallyrotatable cartridge-holding members disposed in saidreceptacle in superposed, axially-aligned relation, means for retaininga circular series of cartridges radially in each of saidcartridgeholding members, guide means on an upper cartridge-holdingmember adapted to register with the guide means on the lowermost of saidcartridge-holding members to form therewith a delivery passage for thecartridges, said guide means serving to arrest the rotary movement ofeach cartridge-holding member, in turn, as the same becomes empty and toguide the cartridges from the loaded cartridge-holding members throughthe empty cartridge-holding members, a

sleeve located centrally within the magazine and adapted to receive apin for supporting the magazine on a firearm, a hollow collar disposedbetween each of said cartridge-holding members and said sleeve, and acoiled spring in each of said hollow collars, each said spring beingsecured at one end to its respective cartridgeholding member and at theother end to said sleeve and serving to rotate said respectivecartridge-holding member to feed cartridges therefrom to said dischargepassage and outlet.

5. A cartridge magazine comprising a receptacle having a dischargeoutlet in .the base thereof, a plurality of substantially flat,individuallyrotatable cartridge-holding members disposed in saidreceptacle in superposed, axially-aligned relation, eachcartridge-holding member comprising a pair of spaced, concentric ringsconnected together by a radial arm, said arm being shaped at one side toform part of a delivery passage for cartridges from an uppercartridge-holding member to the said discharge outlet, means on said armfor engaging the corresponding radial arm of the cartridge-holdingmember next below it to arrest the rotary movement of saidfirst-mentioned arm when its respective cartridge-holding member isempty, means on said concentric rings for supporting a circular seriesof cartridges radially in said cartridge-holding members, a sleevelocated centrally within the magazine and adapted to receive a pin forsupporting the magazine on a firearm, a hollow collar disposed betweeneach of said cartridge-holding members and said sleeve, and a coiledspring in each of said hollow collars, said spring being secured at oneof its respective cartridge-holding member and at the other end to saidsleeve and serving to rotate said respective cartridge-holding member tofeed cartridges therefrom to said discharge passage and outlet.

6. A cartridge magazine according to claim 5, wherein the uppermostcartridge-holding member is provided with a flexible-cartridge-expellingdevice.

7. A cartridge magazine according to claim 5, wherein the saidreceptacle is provided with peripheral slots to enable a tool to beinserted from the exterior of the receptacle and engaged with therespective cartridge-holding members for loading purposes. JOSEF VESELY

